made during oceanographic expeditions in the years 1882 and 1883 with the French ships,
“Travailleur” and “Talisman”. The studies centered on the distribution of bacteria in air,
water and sediment, protein degradation and the influence of temperature, salinity and
pressure. Further processing of collected materials occurred in the laboratory of Louis
Pasteur in Paris. In the years of 1886-94, Fischer reported his bacteriological investigations during ocean cruises to the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Baltic. He was concerned with the distribution of marine microorganisms and the accompanying determining
factors. Along with ecological investigations he isolated numerous bacterial strains for
taxonomic purposes.
In the period from 1882 to 1914, marine microbiology experienced a rapid surge.
Issatschenko (1914) was able to present a treatise in Russian with 300 pages and 420
references, which reviews the state of marine microbiological research at that time. He
emphasized the significance of bacteria in marine biochemical processes and, therewith,
pointed the way for future works. However, setbacks followed during the two World
Wars. Despite this fact, important marine microbiological studies, notably those by
Zobell, Waksman and Korinek, could be carried out in the 1920’s and 30’s. In a comprehensive paper W. Benecke (1933) thoroughly addressed the role of bacteria in the
recycling of materials in the sea. A summary of findings up to 1945 was presented by C.
Zobell (1946) in his book, “Marine Microbiology”. This work was the impetus stimulating marine microbiology to assume a new active mode after 1950. Consequently, in most
larger oceanographic institutes microbiological laboratories were outfitted and numerous publications with the results of marine microbiological studies appeared. Initially
these were continuations of previous undertakings, but studies since 1960 have increasingly addressed themselves to the microbial activity of the sea. Within the last decade the
role of bacteria in marine ecosystems and in energy transfer within the food chain have
been accentuated.
How did this development of marine microbiology proceed ? An important prerequisite
of investigations in the last two decades of the 1800’s was the work by Louis Pasteur and
Robert Koch. Both scientists exerted a tremendous influence on the medical world at that
time. Not surprisingly, physicians employing the methods of the new (medical) microbiology dominated the scene, but instruments for sterile water sampling and work on board
were also developed. Russell ( 1891) and Fischer (1894) described samplers, which functioned well at great depths of some thousands of meters.
In accordance with the dominance of medicine in the first phase of marine microbiology
was early involvement in the search for human pathogenic bacteria in the sea. These were
found, however, only in the direct vicinity of sewage disposal sites. De Giaxa (1889)
studied the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the Gulf of Naples and observed the
competition between these forms and bacterial decomposers. For example, the excitants
of anthrax and cholera succumb more quickly to their competitors than do typhus
bacteria and staphylococci. Furthermore, he disclosed that under natural conditions
pathogenic bacteria in seawater are incapable of successful competition with autochthonous microflora. De Giaxa’s claims were confirmed by the British Sewage Commission in
1903.
Surprisingly, the question of whether true marine bacteria exist remained a controversial
one until relatively recently. The early marine microbiologists such as Fischer, Russell,
Issatschenko and others assumed that specific marine bacteria, indeed, exist, if simply
because most strains isolated from the sea only developed optimally in a seawater
medium. Hence, numerous marine bacteria were classified as distinct species and sometimes as distinct genera (e.g. Halibacterium). Despite this practise, Fischer ( 1894) already
noted that there exist no morphological forms restricted exclusively to the sea.
16
“Travailleur” and “Talisman”. The studies centered on the distribution of bacteria in air,
water and sediment, protein degradation and the influence of temperature, salinity and
pressure. Further processing of collected materials occurred in the laboratory of Louis
Pasteur in Paris. In the years of 1886-94, Fischer reported his bacteriological investigations during ocean cruises to the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Baltic. He was concerned with the distribution of marine microorganisms and the accompanying determining
factors. Along with ecological investigations he isolated numerous bacterial strains for
taxonomic purposes.
In the period from 1882 to 1914, marine microbiology experienced a rapid surge.
Issatschenko (1914) was able to present a treatise in Russian with 300 pages and 420
references, which reviews the state of marine microbiological research at that time. He
emphasized the significance of bacteria in marine biochemical processes and, therewith,
pointed the way for future works. However, setbacks followed during the two World
Wars. Despite this fact, important marine microbiological studies, notably those by
Zobell, Waksman and Korinek, could be carried out in the 1920’s and 30’s. In a comprehensive paper W. Benecke (1933) thoroughly addressed the role of bacteria in the
recycling of materials in the sea. A summary of findings up to 1945 was presented by C.
Zobell (1946) in his book, “Marine Microbiology”. This work was the impetus stimulating marine microbiology to assume a new active mode after 1950. Consequently, in most
larger oceanographic institutes microbiological laboratories were outfitted and numerous publications with the results of marine microbiological studies appeared. Initially
these were continuations of previous undertakings, but studies since 1960 have increasingly addressed themselves to the microbial activity of the sea. Within the last decade the
role of bacteria in marine ecosystems and in energy transfer within the food chain have
been accentuated.
How did this development of marine microbiology proceed ? An important prerequisite
of investigations in the last two decades of the 1800’s was the work by Louis Pasteur and
Robert Koch. Both scientists exerted a tremendous influence on the medical world at that
time. Not surprisingly, physicians employing the methods of the new (medical) microbiology dominated the scene, but instruments for sterile water sampling and work on board
were also developed. Russell ( 1891) and Fischer (1894) described samplers, which functioned well at great depths of some thousands of meters.
In accordance with the dominance of medicine in the first phase of marine microbiology
was early involvement in the search for human pathogenic bacteria in the sea. These were
found, however, only in the direct vicinity of sewage disposal sites. De Giaxa (1889)
studied the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the Gulf of Naples and observed the
competition between these forms and bacterial decomposers. For example, the excitants
of anthrax and cholera succumb more quickly to their competitors than do typhus
bacteria and staphylococci. Furthermore, he disclosed that under natural conditions
pathogenic bacteria in seawater are incapable of successful competition with autochthonous microflora. De Giaxa’s claims were confirmed by the British Sewage Commission in
1903.
Surprisingly, the question of whether true marine bacteria exist remained a controversial
one until relatively recently. The early marine microbiologists such as Fischer, Russell,
Issatschenko and others assumed that specific marine bacteria, indeed, exist, if simply
because most strains isolated from the sea only developed optimally in a seawater
medium. Hence, numerous marine bacteria were classified as distinct species and sometimes as distinct genera (e.g. Halibacterium). Despite this practise, Fischer ( 1894) already
noted that there exist no morphological forms restricted exclusively to the sea.
16